


Flavor

by https_loona



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2020-07-29 13:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20083180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/https_loona/pseuds/https_loona
Summary: since yeosang's usual little corner store burnt down (curse the pesky teens who did it), he's forced to go to the tiny convince store down the street from his house to buy what he needs.orpark seonghwa isn't very fond of his job, especially when he's a college student who has to work the night shift, but things change when a new face starts showing up.





	1. strawberry; k.ys

yeosang curses under his breath as he wraps the jacket around his small frame tighter, the cool breeze of the night piercing at his skin.

he walks down the sidewalk before jogging across the street and to the small convince store.

this would have been much easier and yeosang wouldn't have to be out this long if some pesky teenagers didn't burn down the little candy shop next to his house.

yeosang pushes the glass door of the store open, the bells on it jingling. he keeps his eyes on the ground, trying to make his way to the candy aisle as quick as possible.

as he's walking, he makes the mistake of looking towards the counter where he locks eye contact with a boy he's never seen before.

yeosang's breath hitches in his throat as his eyes scan the male's (very pretty) face.

it doesn't last long as yeosang catches what he's doing and looks away, his face flushing red. he enters the candy aisle, the strangers face still engraved in his mind.

yeosang scans the shelf for what he's looking for, thinking about the way the strangers blonde hair curved perfectly around his face and how the strangers eyes looked tired but still pierced through his skin and how the strangers lips were rosy pink and curled up slightly at the edges and looked so soft and how the stranger was just so breathtakingly beautiful.

yeosang reaches out his hand to grab what he needed off of the shelf, carefully picking up the small object.

he walks over to the counter, placing the item down and glancing up at the male who gives him a small (yet very beautiful) smile.

the worker picks up the item and scans it before looking at it closer.

"strawberry?" the male says and yeosang thinks that just like the rest of the male, his voice is just as beautiful, if not more, than what he had imagined.

yeosang looks away from the boy, glancing down at his name tag. _seonghwa_.

the name repeats in his mind and he reaches for his wallet, pulling out some cash. he places the money on the counter quickly, picking the strawberry flavored item up before leaving the store in a rush.

_seonghwa_. the name repeats in his mind once again. _seonghwa_. blonde hair, pink lips, brown eyes. _seonghwa_.

yeosang speed walks back to his house, unwrapping the strawberry flavored lollipop and placing it in his mouth on the way.

the name repeats itself in yeosang's mind at least seven more times before he reaches his house, quickly pushing the door open and stepping into the warm building.

yeosang doesn't quite remember anything from the time he entered to where he is now, sitting on his bed in his room still sucking on the lollipop, but he knows that he can't get the stupid (yet pretty) strangers face out of his mind or the stupid (yet pretty) strangers name out of his mind.


	2. strawberry; p.sh

seonghwa sighed for the nth time that night, wondering to himself why he ever accepted this job.

it's not that he hated working at the convince store- he actually enjoyed it a lot- but he did hate working the night shift by himself and for a pay much less than what the daytime workers get. yet he stayed because he's a broke college student who needs money.

a perk about working nights though is the fact that the store is empty most of the time, meaning he can study, play whatever music he wants and just hang out. the occasional drunkard or insomniac stumbles in once in a while but they're always gone within minutes.

seonghwa sighs once again before banging his head on the counter in front of him. he forgot to bring his school books, his phone was almost dead and it was only a few hours into his shift (he was also very tired- but when is he not?).

seonghwa lifts his head again, rubbing the area on his forehead that had hit the counter, and he slouches in his little rolly chair.

he guesses that's also a perk to working here, he gets to sit behind the counter on a rolly chair, when the day shift has to stand without seats.

he spins his chair around a few times before getting dizzy and stopping. he looks out the window, finding the dark roads with only slight light from the street lamps creepy. he shudders a bit before looking at his watch, it's 3:17am.

seonghwa let's out another sigh as he still has many hours to go. he props his elbow up on the counter and places his chin in his hand, tapping a beat onto the counter.

seonghwa doesn't know how much time has passed by and he's begun to doze off slightly when he hears the jingle at the door.

he shoots up, straightening his posture, and watches as a brown haired male enters the store.

the boy doesn't spare a glance as him and seonghwa watches him walk through the aisles, towards the candy aisle.

candy at 3am? seonghwa thinks to himself.

as the boy is walking to the aisle, seonghwa catches the boy look over at him and they lock eye contact. this gives seonghwa the chance to actually see the boys face as it was mostly hidden as he was walking.

seonghwa studied the boys light brown (and slightly curly) hair which looked absolutely adorable on him. his eyes travel over to the mark by the males left eye, a birthmark. seonghwa tilts his head, still looking at the male, before the stranger jerks his head away, a dark blush forming on his cheeks. 

seonghwa smiles and watches the boy look through the candy, finding what he wants.

moments later the male walks up to the counter with a single item in his hand. the boy seems to be avoiding him so when seonghwa notices him glance up at the taller, he flashes him a smile.

seonghwa picks up the item the stranger set on the counter, scanning it. before giving the item back to the male, he looks at it closer for a second.

"strawberry?" seonghwa says, setting the item back onto the counter while the male quickly looks away from him.

he watches as the stranger doesn't say anything, just pulling out some money and setting it on the counter before picking up the red item.

before seonghwa has the time to say anything else the male is already out of the store.

he sits in the same position for a minute, thinking about the male, before picking up the cash and putting it in the register.

he's seen a fair amount of weird people stumble in here, but none of them have intrigued seonghwa as much as that boy had.

seonghwa just hoped that this wouldn't be his last time seeing him.


	3. cotton candy; k.ys

twenty three hours and thirty six minutes later yeosang found himself standing outside of the convenience store once again.

he couldn't see the counter from where he was standing, so he had no idea if seonghwa, who has been in his mind those whole twenty three hours and thirty six minutes, would be there again tonight.

yeosang shivers slightly, cursing himself for forgetting a hoodie before leaving the house. he takes a deep breath before pushing the glass door open, ignoring the bell sound.

he takes a few steps in and glances at the counter. sitting there looking very pretty while reading what looks like a school book is the blonde male that had not left yeosang's head all day. seonghwa.

seonghwa looks up to see who entered the store and they lock eye contact, seonghwa flashing the younger a big smile.

"hello!" seonghwa says happily.

yeosang just smiles shyly and makes his way to the candy aisle just like the previous night. he looks through the flavors until he finds the one he's been craving. he picks up the candy with the light blue colored wrapping and makes his way to the counter.

"cotton candy this time?" seonghwa asks, scanning the item. yeosang just looks at him and nods slightly. the male smiles down at him and yeosang's face blushes and he curses at himself for being such a panicked gay. "nice choice,"

yeosang hands seonghwa the money and takes the candy, glancing at seonghwa one last time before making his way towards the exit.

"wait!" yeosang turns around at the sudden voice, once again meeting eyes with the taller male. seonghwa smiles at yeosang. "have a good night!"

a smile plays at yeosang's lips as he gives a nod, waving bye to the other before spinning back around and leaving the store.

seconds after leaving the building he unwraps the candy, placing the sweet treat in his mouth.


	4. cotton candy; p.sh

seonghwa hummed along to the faint music playing throughout the store as he flipped the page of his calculus book. he had a test tomorrow and figured that he'd study tonight since he didn't have much else to do.

occasionally he'd glance at the clock and the front door, wondering if the brown haired boy would show up again or if it was a one time thing.

seonghwa sighs and taps his pencil on the counter a few times, studying one of the equations in his book.

"man i'm gonna fail this test tomorrow," he mumbles to himself, writing a few notes in his notebook. he glances at the clock again, seeing that its 2:49am, meaning that he's spent a little under an hour and a half working on calculus.

he sighs and closes the book, putting it under the counter and taking out his astronomy book. astronomy (and space in general) was something he found very interesting and fun to learn. he was fascinated with all of the stars and planets and loved to look at them at night when he could, which was not often now that he works night shifts and is a university student.

He taps his pencil along to the beat of the song, which was currently breakthrough by twice, as he reads a few things about the constellation orion's belt.

He hears the faint jingle of bells in the background but doesn't register it until a few moments later. realizing this, he quickly sits up in his chair, looking at who walked in.

seonghwa quickly notices it as the boy from last night and smiles brightly, greeting the male.

"hello!" he says happily.

seonghwa's smile gets bigger as he sees the corners of the strangers mouth tilt upwards into a smile. as the stranger breaks eye contact and goes through the aisles seonghwa looks back down at his book. he closes it, deciding that it's not that important right now.

he looks back up and spots the stranger walking towards him at the counter from the candy aisle. he curiously looks at his hand to see what item he grabbed this time but it was hidden by his view until it was set on the counter.

seonghwa smiles at the male as he picks up the candy, scanning it quickly. he barely has to glance at it to know what flavor it is due to it being one of his favorites.

"cotton candy this time?" seonghwa asks. the boy looks up at him and nods, causing seonghwa to smile due to getting an actual response for the first time from the stranger (and he secretly takes note of how the male blushes after seonghwa smiles at him).

"nice choice," seonghwa follows up, setting the item back down on the counter for the male. seonghwa takes the money and watches the boy take the item before walking away to exit the store.

"wait!" seonghwa says, wanting to tell the stranger one last thing before he leaves. he was also hoping to get a verbal response, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

seonghwa smiles as the stranger turns around to meet him, and he says his final words to the male.

"have a good night!" seonghwa says. the other boy smiles and waves at seonghwa before finally leaving.

seonghwa sits back in his seat, still smiling from the interaction. he had no idea why he felt happy from (barely) interacting with the male, but he decided he would deal with that later. instead, he chose to focus on how he would try to talk to the other and try to possibly befriend him (that is, if the other continues to come at night).


	5. blu raspberry; k.ys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was supposed to publish this chapter on thursday but i got sick so that didn't happen
> 
> sorry for the late update but i hope you enjoy :)

the next night yeosang finds himself walking towards the shop again. he checks his watch to find that it's barely past two, meaning that it's earlier than when he has been previously going to the store.

he rushes down the street, the flickering streetlight making it seem much more eerie and sending shivers down his spine.

arriving in front of the convenience store, he hesitates slightly before pushing the door open. his eyes go directly to the counter where instead of being greeted by the cute blonde, he's now being stared at by a guy with silvery hair.

"hello!" the silver haired boy greets with a large smile. "i'm san! welcome to treasure!"

yeosang just smiles and nods at him, forgetting that the name of the store was treasure.

he makes his way to the candy aisle and picks out a piece with dark blue wrapping on it. he makes his way to the counter and sets it down.

san smiles at him and yeosang spots a familiar looking book on the floor behind the counter. san notices and looks behind him, spotting the book.

"astrology?" san says to himself before gasping, yeosang raises and eyebrow. "oh! that's seonghwa's, he must have left it here when he left this morning,"

"seonghwa?" yeosang says accidentally and san whips his head around, locking eye contact with the shorter.

"you know seonghwa?" san asks, finally scanning the item yeosang came here for.

"i- uh, he's the one who works here a lot of the time when i come so i kinda know him," yeosang says, hoping that san will hurry up so he can pay for the item and leave quickly.

"ah," san says, handing the item to Yeosang who in exchange gives san some money. "he really loves astrology, i find him reading books about it all the time when I come to visit during his shifts,"

yeosang nods and steps away from the counter as the transaction finishes.

"well, i should get going," yeosang says, not wanting to be rude and cut san off from talking but also not wanting to be here much longer.

"ah yeah, i forgot you were just here to buy this. blu raspberry is one of my favorite flavors, just thought i'd let you know!" san says, flashing yeosang another smile.

yeosang turns to walk out of the store when he gets stopped by someone yelling.

"hold on!" he turns around to see San, wow this seems familiar he thinks.

"I never got your name," san says, tilting his head.

"yeosang," he says, his grip tightening around the blue colored object in his hand. "my name's yeosang,"

"have a good night, yeosang!" san says, smiling at him.

"you too," yeosang says before hurriedly leaving the store.


	6. blu raspberry; p.sh

seonghwa was getting ready for bed when he heard his phone ding from across the room.

he groans before getting out of bed and making his way over to it, picking it up to see that he's received a text from san.

'_hey_' it's reads before another message pops up '_you left one of your star books here'_

realization dawns on him as he remembers the book he's been searching for all day, he must have left it at the store this morning while rushing to leave.

he sighs and checks the time. it's almost 3am but seonghwa's not that tired anyway so he figures why not go grab it.

he sends a quick text to san saying that he'll visit the store to pick it up. he then sets his phone back down before throwing on an old pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, picking his phone back up and leaving his house.

he makes his way downtown, shivering at the cold. he wonders if the boy will be there tonight, since it's around the same time he normally comes.

minutes later seonghwa is pushing the door of the store open, being instantly greeted by the sound of iz*one's violeta playing throughout the store.

he makes his way over to the empty counter before looking around the store for san. he spots the boy restocking one of the drink fridges, absentmindedly singing while doing it.

"san," seonghwa says, catching the youngers attention. the boy jumps a bit, startled by the sudden noise and seonghwa laughs at him.

"hey hwa," san says before he moves towards the counter, pulling a book off the floor and setting it on the counter top. "here's your book,"

"thanks," Seonghwa says, flashing him a smile. he checks his watch again, seeing that it's now nearing four. he wondered if the boy wasn't coming tonight.

"waiting for someone?" san asks, leaning on the counter.

"oh- no," seonghwa says, putting his hand down and looking back at san who is smiling at him.

"ah, that reminds me! yeosang came in and we talked earlier, he said he knew you but I never remembered you mentioning his name before," san says.

"yeosang?" seonghwa says, cocking his head to the side trying to remember if he knows anyone by that name.

"yeah," san says, slightly confused. "wavy brown hair, he's pretty short, he's cute too, has a birthmark next to his left eye, he bought a lollypop today too, just one, isn't that weird? wait- don't tell me he lied about knowing you- maybe he's a stalker? maybe i shouldn't have talked to him-"

"no, i know him," seonghwa says, cutting san off. he was confused at first until san mentioned the birthmark and candy. "i mean- i kinda know him? he hasn't talked to me and i didn't know his name before,"

"oh, okay," san says, shrugging.

"how did you get him to talk to you? he's only said one word to me," seonghwa says, confused at how his loud best friend got to have an actual conversation with the boy that's been on his mind the past few days.

"weird," san says, "he noticed the book behind the counter and we talked a little bit about you,"

"about me? please tell me you didn't say anything embarrassing,"

"i don't think i did," san says, smiling. "why? do you have a crush on him?

"i- no, i don't even know him that well," seonghwa says, his cheeks flushing. "i don't even know if he's gay,"

"hwa, not to be one of those gays but my gaydar went off as soon as he stepped foot in here," San says before adding another part, this time quietly directed towards himself as a thought, but loud enough for seonghwa to still hear it, "he might be closeted though,"

"gay or not I don't have a crush on him," seonghwa says.

"i think you do," san says, "but if you really don't then i guess i'll go hit him up, he's really pretty. like have you seen him? he looks like angel-"

"shut up san," seonghwa mumbles, his ears bright red.

"well, all i'm gonna say is that you better snatch him up before i do,"

seonghwa rolls his eyes and picks his book up off the counter.

"i'm leaving, i don't want to be here any longer with someone who's bullying me," seonghwa says playfully.

"well i don't want to be here with you either," San says back, a smile playing at his lips. "anyways, have a good night and get some sleep for once! i don't want to drug you but i will if it'll make you sleep for at least an hour. i swear you never sleep,"

"goodnight san," seonghwa says with a laugh, "i promise i'll get some sleep,"

and with that, seonghwa leaves san alone in the store, making his way back home.

when he gets home he remembers he forgot to ask san something. too lazy to walk all the way back to the store he sends the younger a text.

**hwa**  
_hey, forgot to ask but what flavor lollypop did yeosang get?_

a response came only a couple minutes later.

**san**  
_wow, you're really whipped, aren't you?_

  
**hwa**  
_shut up and just tell me what flabor_

**hwa**  
_flavor_

**hwa**  
_fuck_

**san**  
_flabor lmao_

**san**  
_anyways, it was blu raspberry_

**san**  
_get some sleep, lover boy_


	7. mystery; k.ys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of my less well written chapters and i've rewritten it so many times since i can't seem to express the feelings the way i want to so i apologize for the mess that this chapter is.
> 
> also trigger warning, yeo starts to have a panic attack near the end

Yeosang sits up in bed, rubbing his eyes. he didn't remember falling asleep so he was pretty confused. he turns his phone to check the time and sees that it's half past four.

he groans, realizing that he still has a few hours until he has to actually get up.

he stands up and stretches, knowing that he won't fall back asleep anytime soon. this was the first time he's slept in five days (excluding small twenty minute naps here and there), and he only slept for an hour and a half.

he checks the time on his phone one last time before putting on some clothes which consists of a clean hoodie and a pair of random basketball shorts he found on the floor.

he makes his way out of the house and down the street, ignoring the goosebumps on his legs as he once again forgot that it's still cold outside.

minutes later he's pushing the door of the convince store open, being greeted by some song playing on the speakers.

he doesn't see anyone at the counter but he can hear voices from across the room, one of them is (loudly) singing along to the song (which yeosang now recognizes it as fun! by fromis_9) and the other is laughing loudly while telling san to stop before someone walks in. that's when he knows that san and whoever san is with definitely don't know that he is here. he felt like he walked in on something he shouldn't have and it makes him anxious.

he stands there for a moment not knowing what to do. is it too late to leave? if he leaves then the bell will jingle and that could give him away- but they didn't notice the jingle when he walked in so maybe it'd be okay?

yeosang was about to walk out when he remembered the actual reason why he was here and what he needed to buy. he stops again and sighs, knowing that he can't go the night without it, and if he leaves the store the only other one remotely close by is a mile away, and it might not even be open.

he's going between his choices in his head while staring in the direction of the door, which would probably look weird to whoever would see him.

"yeosang?" he heads a voice from behind him. his heart rate speeds up and he spins around, brought out of his thoughts and now facing a sweaty san and a shocked seonghwa.

"oh- i was about to leave," yeosang says in a panicked tone, his eyes darting around to avoid eye contact. "i didn't mean to disturb you or anything!"

"san you scared him! i told you to stop it before someone walked in," he hears seonghwa whisper at san.

"you didn't buy anything though?" san says and yeosang finally looks at him.

"i- yeah," yeosang says, his voice coming out more as a whisper. he felt really anxious and didn't know what to do, he hated being put on the spot and he could feel himself panicking but he did not want to have a panic attack here of all places. he felt stupid for being so worked up about this, all he did was walk in on san being goofy.

"were you here for another lollypop?" seonghwa says softly.

"yeah," yeosang says, looking down at his shoes and taking a few deep breathes. he knew he needed the candy if he wanted to get at least a little more sleep tonight, and he knew it'd calm him down more than anything else at the moment.

"are you okay?" seonghwa adds and yeosang doesn't answer, scared that if he speaks his voice will crack and he'll become even more embarrassed if that happens.

yeosang decides that the best thing to do in this situation is run, and so that's exactly what he does. he turns around and runs out of the store and into the cool night air.

he knows it's probably not the most rational thing to do, but it's too late now so he continues running down the road. he thinks he hears someone call his name from behind him but he plays it off as his imagination.

as soon as he makes it into his house he hurries inside, slamming the door behind him. he barely takes two steps inside before he lost to the ground, back against the wall. he breaks down in tears and soon begins gasping for air, feeling like he's unable to breathe.

it's moments like these that he likes the fact that he lives alone, he doesn't have to worry about waking anyone up or having anyone see him like this, he doesn't have to worry about being a burden.


	8. mystery; p.sh

tonight was one of the rare nights where san and seonghwa both worked the night shift, and it was seonghwa's favorite times of the week.

him and san were busy stocking bags of chips onto the shelf while san's playlist played on the speakers.

he put bags onto the shelf like how he's been taught and hums along to the songs he knows, occasionally talking to san about stupid things. he's caught himself thinking about yeosang and whether or not he'll come tonight.

everything goes peacefully until what is love? by twice begins playing and san completely stops working, choosing to sing and dance instead.

seonghwa watches and laughs him as he makes a fool of himself, the duo having a great time. as the song ends and as seonghwa thinks san will stop, the song changes to one of fromis_9's new songs, which for some reason san knows the lyrics and choreo for, and he continues to sing and dance.

"san!" seonghwa says in the middle of a fit of laugher. "stop it before someone walks in here and sees you!"

san just laughs and ignores him, continuing until the end of the second chorus where he stops, exhausted.

they both calm down and make their way towards the front of the store to start arranging the health items when they see someone near the door, facing away from them.

they both stop and seonghwa looks at san, who doesn't spare a look his way.

"yeosang?" san says instead and to seonghwa's surprise, said boy turns around, seemingly very panicked.

"oh- i was about to leave," yeosang says in a panicked tone, seonghwa notices his eyes darting around and wonders if he's okay. "I didn't mean to disturb you or anything!"

"san you scared him! i told you to stop it before someone walked in," seonghwa whisper-yells to San before elbowing him. san just glares at seonghwa before looking back at the shorter male.

"you didn't buy anything though?" san says and yeosang finally looks at him.

"i- yeah," yeosang says, his voice coming out more as a whisper. seonghwa notices the change in yeosang but is still confused.

"where you here for another lollypop?" seonghwa asks softly. he notices the boy panicking and all he does is want to go over there and hug him, but he knows that's probably not the best thing to do as they barely know each other.

"yeah," yeosang says, looking down at his shoes and it pulls at seonghwa's heartstrings.

"are you okay?" seonghwa adds, hoping to get the younger to talk a little more.

seconds later the boy spins around and sprints out of the store, leaving both male's in shock.

"what the-" san says, clearly confused.

seonghwa stands there frozen for a minute not knowing what to do before he makes his way to the door, exiting to store.

he looks down the road, seeing a figure running away.

"yeosang!" he calls in hopes that the boy will stop, but it seems as he doesn't hear him and seonghwa's heart drops.

he stands there for another moment before making his way back into the store.

he looks at san who is very confused.

seonghwa just hoped that yeosang is okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rest of the chapters after this will be more fluffy and happy (and longer and better written) so please look forward to it :)


	9. sour apple; k.ys

it has been twenty hours since he ran out of the store and yeosang has yet to get a wink of sleep. after getting up after his breakdown he laid in bed for a few hours, soft music playing in the background.

he replayed the scene in his head a lot, analyzing every bit of it as he usually did.

yeosang knew that it probably wasn't that big of a deal, he probably didn't embarrass them or make them hate him for walking in while they were messing around, but he couldn't help but overthink about it. what if they hated him for walking in? would san be embarrassed that he heard him singing? do they think he's weird now that he ran out without buying anything? did seonghwa actually care about him? why did seonghwa ask him if he was okay?

yeosang sighs as all these thoughts fill his brain, it's been bothering him all day. 

he's been wondering if either of them were working tonight as he needed to go buy something again, but he didn't want to face them either.

he checks the time on his phone, biting his lip before getting dressed. he's been in his room all day and hasn't eaten anything, but he's not hungry so it's okay. he has other things to worry about than eating.

he (finally) decides that he'll go to the store. he's craving sour apple really bad right now and figured that maybe if he pretends like yesterday didn't happen then it'll be okay, maybe they won't remember?

he slides out of the house and pockets his phone, walking to the store with his hands in his pockets.

halfway there he stops in the middle of the road, becoming anxious again. maybe it's better for him to just go back, it's not too late to turn around.

he bites his lip again, i mean he's already out here and he already got dressed so what's the point of turning back? and he really wants sour apple right now.

he knows he could always just buy a bag of the candy and not have to go out, but then he can't always choose which flavor he wants and with this being one of the only times he leaves the house he figures it's doing him a little good.

he decides that there's more pros than cons (and decides that he will pretend that last night's occurrence never happened), and with a deep breath he continues walking towards the direction of the store.

a few minutes later he finds himself pushing the glass door open, entering the store.

he sees seonghwa sitting behind the counter, reading a book. yeosang bites his lip once again, his eyes tracing over seonghwa's features and he ignores how his heart rate speeds up.

seonghwa looks up, locking eye contact with yeosang. he sits up and gives a small smile to yeosang, bringing his hand up and waving it a bit.

yeosang returns the smile and makes his way towards the candy aisle. he looks through the items, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration until he finds the item with green wrapping. he smiles as soon as he spots it, picking up the item and holding it up like it's a piece of gold.

he walks to the counter with a slight bounce in his step, completely forgetting about all of his previous worries as he's now focused on the small item and imagining how good it'll taste. it's funny how such a simple thing can bring such joy to him.

he walks up to the counter and sets it down, looking up at seonghwa. they meet eyes and yeosang smiles at him, causing seonghwa to break out into a smile.

"someone's happy," seonghwa says, picking up the sour apple flavored item.

"yes," yeosang says, "very happy,"

seonghwa laughs slightly at his answer, looking at the candy before looking at the boy.

"may i ask why?" seonghwa asks and yeosang's face heats up as he remembers that the candy is the reason why he's so happy, which would probably seem childish. he feels his stomach drop and the tips of his lips turn down for a second before pulling them back up into a nervous smile. 

"sour apple," yeosang says, the tip of his ears burning. he was hoping seonghwa wouldn't judge him for his childish behavior.

"ah, the candy makes you happy?" seonghwa says, tilting his head, earning a small nod from yeosang. seonghwa quickly scans the candy and hands it to yeosang. "are you feeling better? you seemed upset yesterday,"

and with those words yeosang's smile falls and he looks away, biting his lip. his plan of pretending like it never happened going out the window.

"uh, yeah, i'm okay," yeosang says, taking the candy and pulling out his wallet.

"sorry if we upset you yesterday, we didn't mean to," seonghwa says, "also, don't worry about paying tonight. it's on me,"

yeosang looks back up and seonghwa who is smiling softly at him. yeosang returns the smile and puts his wallet away.

"thank you," yeosang says, "i'll be leaving now, have a good night,"

"you too," seonghwa says and yeosang walks towards the door, "see you tomorrow?"

yeosang turns around and flashes a big smile at seonghwa.

"see you tomorrow,"

and with that yeosang exits the store, happily unwrapping the candy and popping it in his mouth as he makes his way back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i'm so sorry for being gone so long!
> 
> i ended up going to a knk concert which was amazing (if you dont stan them you definitely should!) and then i started my senior year but I decided to be a dumbass and take 4 ap classes so I've been super busy with that. i also ended up getting writers block which sucked :(( but now i have more time to write and i have some ideas so i'll be updating a lot more!! 
> 
> thank you so much to everyone who has left comments and given kudos, i really appreciate it and you've helped me get motivated to pick up this story again! 
> 
> i'll try to keep constant updates as best as I can with my schedule, so please look forward to it!


	10. sour apple; p.sh

seonghwa sat further back into his seat and arched his back slightly, stretching it. he's been sitting in the chair behind the stores counter for a couple hours now, reviewing for his geography class.

he's had a couple customers walk in, one being a drunk man and another being a small group of teenage boys. it was nearing half past two in the morning and he doubted that yeosang would show up after yesterday's events, but he could hope.

all day he's been worrying if yeosang was okay, he was scared that they had hurt him in some way (seonghwa spent a lot of time racking through his brain to try to figure out if he could see what they did wong- but nothing came out of it). seonghwa thought that maybe the younger has social anxiety or something like that and that yeosang felt embarrassed by him and san, but he wouldn't know if he didn't talk to the boy.

he shakes his head, clearing his mind of thoughts before leaning back down and looking at his book again.

seonghwa hears the bells on the door jingle while he's in the middle of a sentence, so he continues until finishing before looking up to see who entered.

his eyes fall upon the cute brown haired boy who ran out of the store the previous night, and he swears he could feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

they lock eye contact like they do often and seonghwa sits up in his seat, giving a small smile to yeosang while bringing his hand up and waving it a bit.

seonghwa feels happy as yeosang returns the smile and he watches as the shorter makes his way towards the candy aisle. 

after yeosang gets what he came for, he walks to the counter with a bounce in his step, which seonghwa finds absolutely adorable (but if you were to ask him, he would deny it). seonghwa wishes that he could just scoop yeosang up, stick him in his pocket, and take him home.

yeosang sets the item on the counter and looks up at seonghwa. they meet eyes and yeosang smiles at him, causing seonghwa to break out into a smile. the yeosang that seonghwa is seeing tonight seems completely different from the one thats been at the store the past few nights. this yeosang is bubbly and happy and seonghwa loves it (but he also loves the shy, stuttering yeosang too).

"someone's happy," seonghwa says, picking up the green apple flavored item.

"yes," yeosang says, "very happy,"

seonghwa laughs slightly at his answer, looking at the candy before looking at the boy. man this boy was going to kill him.

"may i ask why?" seonghwa asks, wondering if there was a reason why yeosang was this happy.

"sour apple," yeosang answers and seonghwa notices the tip of his ears burning. cute.

"ah, the candy makes you happy?" seonghwa says, tilting his head and earning a nod from yeosang. he quickly scans it and hands it to yeosang before remembering about yeosang's outburst yesterday. "are you feeling better? you seemed upset yesterday,"

seonghwa doesn't fail to notice how his words cause yeosang's smile to fall, and how he looks away, biting his lip. he gets slightly worried at Yeosang's changed behavior.

"uh, yeah, i'm okay," yeosang says, taking the candy and pulling out his wallet.

"sorry if we upset you yesterday, we didn't mean to," seonghwa says, trying to apologise "also, don't worry about paying tonight. it's on me,"

seonghwa smiles softly down at yeosang who looks up at him before smiling and putting his wallet away.

"thank you," yeosang says, "i'll be leaving now, have a good night,"

"you too," seonghwa says as he watches yeosang walk towards the door, then he quickly adds "see you tomorrow?"

seonghwa watches yeosang as he turns around and flashes him a big smile.

"see you tomorrow," the shorter says.

and with that, seonghwa watches yeosang exit the store, feeling happier than ever.


	11. orange; k.ys

it's been five days since that day, and yeosang has gone to the store every night promptly at 3 in the morning, whether seonghwa was working or san (and once there was jongho- a new hire).

yeosang has gotten quite close to both male's and he's starting to think of them both as good friends. he has even started to develop a small crush on seonghwa, but he knows the older probably doesn't feel the same way so he choses not to act on it.

he's truly appreciated that he's met the duo, as they've both helped him open up, their loud outgoing personalities helping break him out of his shell.

as yeosang walks to the convenience store, he runs the list of flavors he has in the past week through his mind. after green apple it was bubble gum, root beer, lemon lime and yesterday's flavor was cream soda. yeosang didn't know what flavor tonight would be, maybe a cherry or a chocolate- he didn't know. he wasn't craving anything specific so he decided to pick whatever feels right when he gets there.

finally reaching the brightly lit store, he pushes the cool glass door open and heads inside.

he smiles at seonghwa who is sitting at the counter, and seonghwa returns it also throwing him a wave.

yeosang makes his way to the candy aisle, looking at the selection. grape, mystery, cherry, pineapple, fruit punch. he continues looking before something catches his eye.

he picks up the piece with orange colored paper before walking to the counter.

"hey," seonghwa greets him as he reaches the counter.

"hi," yeosang replies, handing seonghwa the orange wrapped candy.

seonghwa scanned the item and handed it back to yeosang. yeosang pays and seonghwa speaks up before the smaller can leave.

"i was wondering," seonghwa begins, causing yeosang to look up at him. "do you maybe wanna go out and grab some food with me sometime?"

yeosang freezes and he can feel his heartbeat racing.

"l-like a date?" he stutters out in almost a whisper. he looks down at the counter, his mind racing with thoughts. _is he asking me out on a date or as a friendly hangout? does he like me? is he playing a joke on me? he probably just wants to get food as friends-_

"uh- yeah? if that's fine with you?" seonghwa says, his cheeks burning red.

"oh, okay," yeosang says, red spreading to his own cheeks "yeah, that sounds good,"

"good, great, okay," seonghwa says. "i'm not working tomorrow and there's a good place nearby that I like if that's fine with you?"

"yeah," yeosang says, cursing himself for being so awkward.

"uh- can I have your number?" seonghwa says and yeosang looks up at him again. "so i can text you the details and stuff,"

"sure," he says, and seonghwa pulls his phone out of his hoodie pocket, handing it to the smaller male.

yeosang quickly takes it from him and creates a new contact, adding his number. after doing that he looks back up at seonghwa who is smiling down at him, causing yeosang's stomach to flip, he really liked seonghwa's smile.

yeosang hands seonghwa his phone back, a shy smile playing on his lips.

"thanks," seonghwa says. "i'll see you tomorrow,"

"see you tomorrow," yeosang says, picking up his orange candy. "have a good night,"

"you too, stay safe," seonghwa says gently, giving the male a bright smile which yeosang returns before leaving the store.

as soon as yeosang steps out of the store and into the cool air, he lets out a breath and smiles big at himself.

he walks down the road, replaying the awkward conversation in his mind. he was nervous about tomorrow but happy with the hope that seonghwa returned his feelings.


	12. orange; p.sh

seonghwa drums his fingers on the top of the counter, his mind running wild.

these past few days have made him realize that he's been starting to crush on the male who comes in every night, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing- hell, yeosang could be straight for all he knows.

he had talked to san about his crush and san, after teasing the older a bit, told him to ask yeosang on a date, so that was his plan.

he decided that tonight he would ask yeosang out to eat with him at one of his favorite places tomorrow. he was hoping the younger would say yes, he didn't know what to do if the younger said no. he was hoping that this wouldn't make things awkward between them.

seonghwa plans what he's going to say in his mind, repeating the words over and over to himself. the last thing he wanted to do was stutter or make a fool out of himself.

the bells on the door chime and seonghwa looks up, seeing the boy of his thoughts enter the store.

he smiles and waves at yeosang who smiles back. seonghwa's stomach goes crazy with butterflies and he realizes how whipped he actually is for the younger.

"hey," seonghwa greets yeosang as he walks up to the counter.

"hi," yeosang replies and seonghwa takes the orange wrapped item from his hand.

seonghwa scans the item and hands it back to yeosang. yeosang hands him the money for it.

_well, its now or never._

"i was wondering," seonghwa begins, causing yeosang to look up at him. nervousness fills seonghwa's mind and his stomach feels uneasy, what if yeosang doesn't like him in that way? will he run off again? "do you maybe wanna go out and grab some food with me sometime?"

seonghwa holds his breath while watching yeosang's reaction.

"l-like a date?" yeosang says in almost a whisper, seonghwa barely catches it.

"uh- yeah? if that's fine with you?" seonghwa says, his cheeks burning red. he's hoping the younger won't be against the idea.

"oh, okay," yeosang says, "yeah, that sounds good,"

it feels like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders and he smiles at the younger.

"good, great, okay," seonghwa says. "i'm not working tomorrow and there's a good place nearby that I like if that's fine with you?"

"yeah," yeosang says.

"uh- can I have your number?" seonghwa asks, causing yeosang to look up at him. "so i can text you the details and stuff,"

"sure," yeosang says and seonghwa pulls his phone out of his hoodie pocket, handing it to the smaller male.

seonghwa watches the younger male as he types in his number, he smiles down at him, finding him really cute. he hoped that yeosang feels at least a little bit the same as seonghwa does- but if he didn't then why would he accept the date?

seonghwa takes his phone back from yeosang after he's done and smiles more at yeosang's shy smile, _god this boy is too cute_.

"thanks," seonghwa says. "i'll see you tomorrow,"

"see you tomorrow," yeosang says while picking up the orange candy. "have a good night,"

"you too, stay safe," seonghwa says gently, giving the male a bright smile which yeosang returns.

seonghwa watches as yeosang exits before he sits back in his seat, smiling to himself. he was really excited about taking yeosang out, he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

he looks down at his phone and stares at the number, wondering how he got so lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year! ateez is having a comeback tomorrow and i cant wait! answer sounds really good so far and all the songs sound like bops
> 
> also, yeosang better have more lines or i'll fight


	13. blueberry; k.ys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally wrote this whole chapter with their date being them eating ramen at some convenience store before remembering that seonghwa works at a convenience store and that it wouldn’t make sense lol

it was nearing ten thirty when yeosang began to finish getting dressed. he has thirty minutes until the agreed time to meet.

yeosang enters his bathroom, brushing his teeth before styling his hair.

seonghwa had texted him earlier, telling him where they were going and where to meet at. they had decided to meet at the convenience store as seonghwa would be there to help out. they had then agreed to meet at eleven, which wasn’t too late for seonghwa since he had classes the next day and not too early for yeonsang since he didn’t like going out in the daytime.

he was nervous- excited- but mainly nervous. he’s never went on an actual date before, as he usually turned down anyone who asked him due to his anxiety, but he still had the general idea of what was supposed to happen.

his budding crush on seonghwa seemed to grow overnight after he received a cute good morning text from the elder, it instantly making him smile after a long night of attempting to sleep (and failing).

yeosang exits the bathroom and picks his phone up off the charger. he sits on his bed and unlocks his phone, checking for any new messages before scrolling through instagram.

with ten minutes until the meeting time, yeosang slides his shoes on and makes his way out of the house. he exits the house and begins walking down the sidewalk, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

today, instead of wearing the normal hoodie and basketball shorts, yeosang was wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans along with a brown sweater that was almost a size too big.

yeosang was happy about his choice of clothes, it making him look cute while also keeping him protected from the cold air.

he finally reaches the store, pushing the glass doors open and heading to his normal destination as he figured why not pick up some candy while he was here.

he didn’t see anyone behind the counter so he figured san was probably in the back.

he scans through the options of the sweet flavored candy he loves so much before settling on the blue wrapped candy.

he picks up the item before walking to the counter where san was now standing.

“oh, yeosang!” san says with a smile once he notices the boy, “you’re here,”

“yeah,” yeosang says, smiling at the younger before handing him the candy.

“seonghwa’s in the backroom, he’s finishing getting ready,” san says while scanning the item, his voice quieter than normal, “don’t tell him i told you this, but he’s really nervous. he really likes you,”

yeosangs face flushes immediately at san’s words and he quickly looks down in an attempt to hide it before pulling his wallet out. san laughs at his reaction.

“seonghwa get your ass out here, your boy is here!” san turns and yells towards the back room. he then turns back around, smiling sweetly at yeosang who had somehow turned an even darker shade of red.

moments later seonghwa bursts through the door of the backroom and the two immediately lock eye contact.

yeosang scans over the others outfit, the older wearing a loose striped shirt tucked into black skinny jeans. to say he looked good would be an understatement.

“hi yeosang,” seonghwa says, walking towards him and giving him a soft smile, “you look nice,”

“uh thanks,” yeosang says, blushing once again, “you look good too,”

“alright you two, get out of here,” san says, handing yeosang his candy back.

yeosang finally looks away from seonghwa and turns back to san, accepting the candy.

“i haven’t paid yet though,” yeosang says, still holding his wallet in his right hand.

“don’t worry, it’s on me tonight,” san says, “now go have some fun!”

yeosang puts his wallet away and pockets his candy before turning back to seonghwa.

“you ready to go?” seonghwa asks and yeosang nods.

and with that, the duo walk out of the store and walk side by side down the sidewalk, seonghwa leading them to the shop he was talking about.

they make small talk as they walk, their fingers occasionally brushing due to the close proximity.

the next time their fingers brush is when they’re talking about music.

“i really like deans voice,” seonghwa says, “if i had the opportunity to see him live i would sell my soul for it,”

“ah, i love dean,” yeosang agrees, “I also really like his songs with heize too, oh and have you heard of woodz-”

yeosang stops talking when he feels seonghwa’s fingers brush against his once again.

he doesn’t know what makes him do it, but he’s feeling a little bold and he decides to grab seonghwas hand, intertwining their fingers.

seonghwa looks down at him in surprise and yeosang looks away, shy. seonghwa then smiles, squeezing yeosangs hand slightly before looking forward again.

they continue their conversation, seonghwa picking it back up by telling yeosang he's heard of woodz but didn't know much about him- and yeosang insisted that seonghwa must listen to him sometime because he has "a voice given directly from the angels".

they soon make it to the place seonghwa wanted to eat at, which ended up being a small chicken restaurant. seonghwa pulls yeosang inside, their hands still together.

seonghwa is the first to let go when they reach the counter, and both of them pick their preferred items off the menu. it was set up similar to a fast food restaurant, order at the counter and get your food when you’re called.

"spicy?" seonghwa says, looking at yeosang's selection, "i didn't take you to be the kind of guy to eat spicy chicken,"

yeosang snorts at the elders comment.

"how does one look like the kind to eat spicy chicken?" he says as they walk to the counter to pay.

"i-i don't know?" seonghwa says, slightly embarrassed. yeosang just giggles at his reaction. “i mean, you only come to the store to buy candy so i figured you preferred sweet things”

seonghwa ends up paying for both orders of chicken- much to yeosang's dissatisfaction. yeosang tried to pay for his own but seonghwa wasn't having it, claiming that "i'm the one who asked you out, therefore i should be the one to pay"

they make their way over to a set of tables, waiting for their order.

Minutes later seonghwa’s name gets called and the elder flashes a smile to yeosang before going to grab it.

yeosang looks around the shop, now noticing how empty it was. but what was he supposed to expect when it's past midnight.

he glances over at seonghwa who is busy getting the food, and he lets his gaze linger on the older for a few seconds.

everytime he looks at seonghwa he gets reminded once more of how beautiful he is. seonghwa truly is ethereal.

seonghwa comes back, noticing the younger staring at him.

"do i have something on my face?" he asks, tilting his head and setting down their food.

yeosang blushes, realizing that he's been caught and he looks away, readjusting himself in the seat. he picks out a piece of chicken from his bucket, setting it down on the plate.

"uh- no," yeosang replies shortly before taking a few bites. seonghwa keeps his eyes on the younger for a few more seconds before beginning to eat his chicken too.

as they eat they have some small talk, talking about their families.

"do you live near treasure?" seonghwa asks, bringing up the convenience store "I figured you did since you come every night,"

"yeah, i live just down the road," yeosang says. "how about you?"

"i live like ten minutes away," seonghwa says. "do you live alone or with your family?"

"uh," yeosang pauses, unsure about how much he wants to say. "i live alone, my family isn't around anymore,"

"oh, i'm sorry," seonghwa says, pausing and glancing up at yeosang who seems a bit out of it.

"no, it's fine," yeosang says, looking up at seonghwa and giving him a small smile. "it's not like their dead, i just kinda don't exist to them anymore,"

seonghwa hums in response, not wanting to press yeosang to talk more about it but allowing him to if he wants.

"anyways, enough about me, what about you? do you live alone?" yeosang asks.

"yeah," seonghwa says. "san used to room with me until i kicked him out. don't get me wrong, i love him, but he's a terrible roommate,"

and the duo continue talking well after they finish eating, only stopping once seonghwa checks the time on his phone.

"it's already two?" he says in surprise.

"it's that late already?" yeosang asks. "maybe we should leave, don't you have classes tomorrow?"

"yeah, i do," seonghwa says, gathering their trash.

"you should really get some more sleep on the nights you don't work," yeosang says, standing up and helping clean up their mess. "i still don't know why you thought working the night shift was a good idea,"

"well, if i didn't work the night shift i wouldn't have met you,"

seonghwa's comment makes yeosang blush, the younger rolling his eyes.

"i guess you're right," he says.

after cleaning their mess, they leave the store, heading back towards treasure and to yeosang's place.

as soon as they step outside a gust of cold air blows by them, causing yeosang to shiver slightly.

seonghwa notices and grabs yeosang's hand, intertwining their fingers and swinging their hands slightly. he pulls the younger closer to him and they begin their walk back home.

the walk back is mostly silent, the two of them just enjoying their time together.

soon they make it to treasure where yeosang expects his night with seonghwa to end.

"where do you live?" seonghwa says, surprising yeosang. "i want to walk you home,"

"i literally live down the street, i can walk there by myself," yeosang says as they stand outside of the store, still holding hands.

"stop being difficult," seonghwa whines slightly, pulling on yeosang's hand. yeosang just laughs before tugging seonghwa in the direction of his place.

"why did you want to walk me home?" yeosang asks.

"didn't want the night to end," seonghwa replies and yeosang's face flushes. yeosang doesn't know what to say in response so he just squeezes seonghwas hand instead.

minutes later they stop in front of the place yeosang has been living alone for the past few years.

yeosang stops walking, halting the older male.

"this is my stop," yeosang says, facing seonghwa.

seonghwa smiles down at the younger male.

"you should head inside then, get yourself warmed up," seonghwa says. "i had a good night tonight,"

"i did too, i really enjoyed being with you," yeosang says.

the two stand there looking at each other for what feels like hours and yeosang feels like he's going to explode at any minute he was extremely overwhelmed with his feelings.

"well, i should get going now and you should go home and sleep," yeosang says softly. "good night, seonghwa,"

"good night, yeosang," seonghwa says, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to yeosang's forehead before squeezing his hand one last time and letting go.

yeosang smiles at the elder before heading inside of his house, happy and content with how the night went.


	14. blueberry; p.sh

seonghwa rushed straight to the store after his afternoon classes. it was nearing eight and he promised he would help san out, plus he needed to get ready for the date.

he and san had spent the majority of last night picking an outfit out for today, so it was prepared for him at the store, he just had to put it on and do his hair and makeup.

seonghwa pushes the glass door open, walking straight towards san who was behind the counter.

“rough day?” san asks as seonghwa drops his bag off in the back room.

“yeah, you know how mr. hwang, always cranky and taking it out on us,” seonghwa says. he doesn’t hate literature but his teacher, mr. hwang, isn’t the most enjoyable teacher.

“that sucks man,” san says. “at least you have your date tonight,”

“yeah, i know,” seonghwa replies, exiting the backroom. “i’ll probably only need an hour to get ready so i can help for a couple of hours. we have to stock the new chips right?”

“yeah, they’re in the back,” the younger responds, leaving from his spot behind the counter to go grab some boxes.

they work for a while, unboxing and shelving bags of chips while humming along to whatever songs played through san’s playlist.

“it’s almost ten,” san says, leaning against a stack of boxes. they had finished shelving chips and had moved on to various candy bars. “you wanna start getting ready?”

“yeah,” seonghwa says, straightening up and stretching. “I’ll go get changed,”

“let me know when you finish! i wanna do your makeup,” san says, earning a chuckle from seonghwa.

“alright,” he says, rolling his eyes and making his way towards the back room.

seonghwa picks up his outfit from where it was being stored, a silk black and white striped top and a pair of black skinny jeans, and enter the bathroom to change into them.

as seonghwa finishes getting dressed, he looks at himself in the bathroom mirror, tucking part of his shirt into his pants before deeming his outfit good enough and going to fix his hair.

his hair was a bit messy as he had classes for most of the day and then helped san out, so he took a little bit of time to style it.  
After being satisfied, he leaves the bathroom to grab san to do his makeup.

“sannie,” he calls, searching for the younger through the aisles.

san pops out from the breakfast aisle and heads toward seonghwa, a big smile on his face.

“you look really good hwa!” san says, “now let's go do your makeup!”

san grabs seonghwas arm and leads him to the backroom where he keeps his makeup before leading the elder back to the bathroom.

“i’m just going to do some eyeliner and eyeshadow,” san says, pulling out some materials. “not too much but enough to make your look even better,”

seonghwa sits down on a stool and allows san to do his work. it takes roughly twenty minutes (half the time being san choosing what eyeshadow shade to use) before his makeup is finished.

“you’re all done!” san says, taking a step back and looking at his work, “yeosang will love it,” he continues as he puts his materials back. “now, i’m going to go back out before any customers arrive, you’re good back here to finish up right?”

“yeah, i’ll be fine,” seonghwa says, looking at himself in the mirror, he did look good, the eyeshadow and eyeliner complimented his outfit really well. “i’m a little nervous though,”

“tonight will go great, no need to worry,” san says, squeezing seonghwa’s shoulder and giving him and encouraging smile. “see you in a few minutes,”

seonghwa watches as san leaves the bathroom, heading back to the front of the store. he looks back at his reflection and stares at himself a bit before finishing getting ready.

as seonghwa was putting his shoes on, he heard muffled voices coming from the front of the store, figuring it was just san talking to a customer he checks the time on his phone before standing up.  
“seonghwa get your ass out here, your boy is here!” seonghwa hears san shout, and he stops dead in his tracks. flushing slightly and rolling his eyes at the youngers statement.

moments later seonghwa bursts through the door of the backroom and he immediately locks eye contact with yeosang.

seonghwa looks over the yeosangs outfit, the younger wearing a cute oversized brown sweater.

“hi yeosang,” seonghwa says, walking towards him and giving him a soft smile, “you look nice,”

“uh thanks,” yeosang says, seonghwa noticing a small blush on his cheeks, “you look good too,”

“alright you two, get out of here,” san says, handing yeosang a blue colored candy.

yeosang turns away from seonghwa towards san, accepting the candy.

“i haven’t paid yet though,” yeosang says.

“don’t worry, it’s on me tonight,” san says, “now go have some fun!”

seonghwa watches as yeosang pockets his stuff before turning back to face him.

“you ready to go?” seonghwa asks and yeosang nods.

and with that, the duo walk out of the store and walk side by side down the sidewalk, seonghwa leading them to the shop he was talking about.

they make small talk as they walk, their fingers occasionally brushing due to the close proximity.

“i really like deans voice,” seonghwa says, “if i had the opportunity to see him live i would sell my soul for it,”

“ah, i love dean,” yeosang agrees, “I also really like his songs with heize too, oh and have you heard of woodz-”

seonghwa looks down at yeosang in surprise as he feels him intertwine their fingers, his heart rate speeding up. he smiles, squeezing yeosangs hand slightly before looking forward again.

they continue their conversation, seonghwa picking it back up by telling yeosang he's heard of woodz but didn't know much about him- and yeosang insisted that seonghwa must listen to him sometime because he has "a voice given directly from the angels".

they soon make it to the place seonghwa wanted to eat at, which ended up being a small chicken restaurant. seonghwa pulls yeosang inside, their hands still together.

seonghwa is the first to let go when they reach the counter, and both of them pick their preferred items off the menu. he really liked the chicken here and he hoped yeosang would like it too, as he remembered yeosang mentioning chicken being one of his favorite foods before.

"spicy?" seonghwa says, looking at yeosang's selection, "i didn't take you to be the kind of guy to eat spicy chicken,"

yeosang snorts at the elders comment.

"how does one look like the kind to eat spicy chicken?" he says as they walk to the counter to pay.

"i-i don't know?" seonghwa says, slightly embarrassed as yeosang giggles at him. “i mean, you only come to the store to buy candy so i figured you preferred sweet things”

seonghwa pays for both of their orders, ignoring yeosangs protests, claiming that "i'm the one who asked you out, therefore i should be the one to pay".

they make their way over to a set of tables, waiting for their order.

Minutes later seonghwa’s name gets called and he flashes a smile to yeosang before going to grab it.

he walks to the counter, collecting all of the food they ordered and thanking the workers. he turns to walk back to their table when he notices yeosang staring at him.

"do i have something on my face?" he asks, tilting his head and setting down their food.

seonghwa smiles softly as yeosang looks away, he found it cute how the younger reacted.

"uh- no," yeosang replies shortly before taking a few bites. seonghwa keeps his eyes on the younger for a few more seconds before beginning to eat his chicken too.

as they eat they have some small talk, talking about their families.

"do you live near ‘treasure’?" seonghwa asks, "I figured you did since you come every night,"

"yeah, i live just down the road," yeosang says. "how about you?"

"i live like ten minutes away," seonghwa says. "do you live alone or with your family?"

"uh," yeosang pauses, which concerns seonghwa a little. did he ask about something he shouldn’t have? "i live alone, my family isn't around anymore,"

"oh, i'm sorry," seonghwa says, pausing and glancing up at yeosang.

"no, it's fine," yeosang says, meeting seonghwas eyes and giving him a small smile. "it's not like their dead, i just kinda don't exist to them anymore,"

seonghwa hums in response, not wanting to press yeosang to talk more about it but allowing him to if he wants. he wonders what happened between yeosang and his family.

"anyways, enough about me, what about you? do you live alone?" yeosang asks.

"yeah," seonghwa says. "san used to room with me until i kicked him out. don't get me wrong, i love him, but he's a terrible roommate,"

and the duo continue talking well after they finish eating, only stopping once seonghwa checks the time on his phone.

"it's already two?" he says in surprise as he didn't know they'd been out that late, he was surprised the workers didn't lock them out yet.

"it's that late already?" yeosang asks. "maybe we should leave, don't you have classes tomorrow?"

"yeah, i do," seonghwa says, gathering their trash. as much as he didn’t want the night to end, he did have morning classes and it wouldn’t be fun having only a couple hours of sleep beforehand.

"you should really get some more sleep on the nights you don't work," yeosang says, standing up and helping seonghwa clean. "i still don't know why you thought working the night shift was a good idea,"

"well, if i didn't work the night shift i wouldn't have met you," seonghwa comments, taking note of the way the younger blushes and rolls his eyes.

"i guess you're right," he says.

after cleaning their mess, they leave the store, heading back towards treasure.

as soon as they step outside a gust of cold air blows by them. seonghwa isn’t too bothered, as he normally likes colder weather, but he turns to check on yeosang incase the younger was uncomfortable.

seonghwa notices yeosang shivering and reaches over to grab yeosang's hand, intertwining their fingers and swinging their hands slightly. he pulls the younger closer to him for warmth and they begin their walk back.

the walk back is mostly silent, the two of them just enjoying their time together.

soon they make it to treasure and seonghwa frowns before an idea pops into his head.

"where do you live?" seonghwa says, "i want to walk you home,"

"i literally live down the street, i can walk there by myself," yeosang says as they stand outside of the store, still holding hands.

"stop being difficult," seonghwa whines slightly, pulling on yeosang's hand. yeosang just laughs before tugging seonghwa in what he presumes is in the direction of his place.

"why did you want to walk me home?" yeosang asks.

"didn't want the night to end," seonghwa replies and yeosang's face flushes, the younger squeezing his hand.

minutes later they stop in front of a building, and seonghwa realizes that it must be yeosangs house. he’s passed by the building a few times but never took too much notice to it.

"this is my stop," yeosang says, facing seonghwa and confirming his thoughts.

seonghwa smiles down at the younger male.

"you should head inside then, get yourself warmed up," seonghwa says, wanting the younger to warm up since they’ve been walking around in the cold. "i had a good night tonight,"

"i did too, i really enjoyed being with you," yeosang says.

the two stand there looking at each other for what feels like hours as seonghwa admires the younger with a soft smile on his face, he was falling hard and fast for this boy and he didn’t regret it one bit.

"well, i should get going now and you should go home and sleep," yeosang says softly. "good night, seonghwa,"

"good night, yeosang," seonghwa says, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to yeosang's forehead before squeezing his hand one last time and letting go.

seonghwa watches as yeosang smiles before turning around and heading inside of his house.

he leave once he sees yeosang enter safely, heading back towards the convenience store where san was waiting.

he pushes the glass doors open, immediately being bombarded with questions from san. he laughs and pushes san away before putting his bag down.

the elder spent the rest of the night helping san around the shop and selectively answering some of the questions san threw at him.


End file.
